Appalachian Trail - Day 127 - Mahoosuc Notch to Grafton Notch

Day: 127

Date: Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Start:  Mahoosuc Notch (AT Mile 1923.9)

Finish:  Grafton Notch (AT Mile 1934.0)

Daily Kilometres:  9.2

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  3152.2

Weather:  Rain overnight then some fog clearing to mild and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Bacon cheeseburger & fries, ice-cream & cheesecake.

Aches:  Dave - exhausted and the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Finishing the Mahoosucs, a ruggedly beautiful mountain range, but very hard work for hiking.

Lowlight:  Dave was struggling from the outset of the day's hiking with fatigue from yesterday's hike which culminated in the energy-sapping traverse of Mahoosuc Notch.  Compounding his misery, he had a fall near the end of the day which took some skin off and slightly bent the bottom of one of his new trekking poles.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

After the blog was completed last night, as we were settling down to sleep, someone approached our tent with a headlamp and asked who we were.  It turned out to be a young South African thru-hiker we have got to know (along with his Swedish girlfriend … they met on the trail) over the last week or so who was camped a quarter of a mile further up the trail at a designated tenting area and was concerned when we had not turned up there after our transition of the Mahoosuc Notch.  They had seen that we were slow and that Dave was struggling with the difficult technical trail and were worried about our welfare.  How thoughtful and kind was that!

It rained from soon after we went to bed until the early hours so we woke to a very wet tent fly sheet and sopping wet surrounding vegetation.  On the plus side, it was not raining as we packed up and we were hiking before 6:30am and straight into our first climb of the day up to Mahoosuc Arm (3765'),  It was steep long and technical and Dave was soon lagging behind, still fatigued from yesterday.

We took a break at the top, from which there were excellent views, after 2.5 hours to cover two miles and discussed our situation.  We had another big climb soon, after a steep descent, to the shoulder (4026') of Old Speck Mountain, so it seemed likely to be another low-mileage day, especially with Dave struggling.  We resolved to continue on and make a decision after Old Speck.

Before climbing Old Speck, we descended to the beautiful Speck Pond, crossing a beaver dam at its outlet.  Our timing was good because almost immediately thereafter cloud blew in and  the pond was covered in fog.

The climb up Old Speck also seemed endless and steeply technical, so no increase in hiking speed (and no views at the top).  On the way down, we decided to call a motel at Bethel, 20 miles from Grafton Notch where we would soon cross a road, to see if they had a room available.  Not only did they have a room, but they offered to pick us up from the trailhead.  Our thinking was that a short day and soft bed would help Dave recover and it also allowed us to augment our food, which we had been rationing because of the decision yesterday to take an extra day to Rangeley (and our next day off) because of our slow progress.  Also, rain, heavy at times, is forecast for overnight and tomorrow morning, so avoiding starting the day with a wet pack-up had a lot of appeal.

We reached Grafton Notch after a very long, but not so steep, relatively, descent at 2:00pm.  Unexpectedly, there was some "trail magic" treats being offered to thru-hikers by three "trail angels".  We were reluctant to eat/drink the treats because we were heading into town, but did spend a pleasant 30 minutes chatting to them in the sun until our ride to Bethel arrived.  Kevin, the motel co-owner, also offered us cold drinks, and turned out to be a great fan of Bluey, the Australian animated series, from which he retold funny stories which had stayed with him.  He was also a fan of, and knowledgeable about, Australian movies so we had a good chat on the drive to the motel.

We checked in around 3:00pm and gave our laundry to Ruthie, the other co-owner, who insisted that she would do it.  The motel is excellent value and located in the centre of the small town which is a ski resort in the winter with the Sunday River ski field nearby.

After showers, sorting out our laundry and drying our tent, Julie went to the pub for a drink with the South African/Swedish couple who were so concerned about us last night and who had come into town to resupply but are returning to the trail this evening.

Later, Julie bought some take-out hamburgers for dinner and we had an early night.  Kevin will shuttle us back to the trailhead at 6:00am tomorrow so that we get in three full days hiking to maximise our chances of getting to Rangeley in good time on Friday.